Happy 3rd Birthday Kassidy, Kaydence, Rustin, Kyndall and Ryder!!!

It's official....the quints are now THREE years old! I can't believe it! What an amazing adventure the past three years have been! We have come so far, and yet I know that there is much more craziness yet to come. I feel truly blessed to be the mother to these five precious little ones (plus two others). They have brought out the best in me and in many others whose lives they have influenced.

Here are some pictures I took this morning. The outtakes were just as cute as the "real" pictures, so I thought I would include some of those as well :-)

Kassidy, "The Mother Hen". Kassidy likes to be in charge and make sure everything is going as it should. She is very opinionated (hmmm...I wonder where she got that trait????) and she likes to be a helper. I think she is going to be my shopping buddy when she grows up. Of all my kids, she is the most like me, both in looks and in personality.

Kassidy Outtake

Kaydence, "The Sweethart". Kaydence is super sweet as long as you don't cross her. She has the cutest little voice---when she talks to you in that voice it is hard to say no! Kaydence is the most content to play by herself and she is more of a follower than a leader. She is very detail oriented and can find the tiniest objects on the floor.

Kaydence Outtake

Rustin, "The Clown". Rustin is full of personality. He owns every bit of his red hair. He loves to cause trouble, but he always does it with a smile on his face. Of all the kids, he gets the most excited about things. He might be the first in line to steal some ones toy, but he is the biggest teddy bear. Rustin hates shoes and ditches his at the first opportunity.

Rustin Outtake (his is more cute than outtakish)

Kyndall, "The Spitfire". Kyndall is spunky and smart---a little too smart sometimes! She is as much of a troublemaker as Rustin, but in a different way---her misdeeds are much more clever. She loves to make me panic by hiding and not making a noise, while I run around the house looking everywhere for her. While Kassidy wants to be in charge, Kyndall is usually the one the others follow, maybe because she always looks like she is having fun.

Kyndall Outtake

Ryder, "The Charmer". Ryder continues to be my most high-maintenance child. He loves to be held and given a lot of attention. When he does get a lot of attention, he is as good as gold, but when he doesn't....watch out! Ryder loves shoes--his or anyone elses. He even sleeps in his shoes.


Ryder Outtake

Wilkinson Quints: Kyndall, Ryder, Kaydence, Rustin and Kassidy---3 years old!

To see how much the quints have grown over the years, check out these links to some of their other birthdays:

The Birth Story---July 31, 2007

Wilkinson Quints First Birthday

Wilkinson Quints Second Birthday

Happy 3rd Birthday Kassidy, Kaydence, Rustin, Kyndall and Ryder!!!

Happy 9th Birthday Riley!

Last Thursday was Riley's 9th birthday. It is hard to believe I have been a mom for 9 years! Someone told me that since Riley is 9, his time at home is now half way gone. That is crazy to think about.

At our house, we do "friend" birthday parties every other year this was Riley's year for a party. Riley really wanted to have a LEGO birthday party. Since I really went all out for Kaiya's Princess party back in March, I tried to make Riley's party equally as great.

The kids played "hot LEGO" (aka hot potato with a box that looked like a LEGO), had a LEGO building contest, and raced to see how many LEGOs they could pick up using chopsticks. The kids were actually a lot more skilled with the chopsticks than I thought they would be.

The kids worked hard to come up with their LEGO creations.



For dinner, we had LEGO shaped pizzas.

Of course no LEGO party could be complete without a LEGO cake! I made this one using Betty Crocker's recipe.

I attempted to make the goodie bags look like LEGOs by cutting out four circles and attaching them with foam tape. I also found a LEGO font online to print the names with.

The goodie bags were filled with LEGOs (of course), candy, and a homemade LEGO bookmark.

All in all, I think the kids, and most importantly Riley, had a great time!

Riley's actual birthday was the day before our Wilkinson Family Reunion (more on that in an upcoming post), so he was lucky enough to have some extended family members here to help him celebrate.

Cousins Andrew and Trevor with Riley and Kaiya

Not surprisingly, the main thing that Riley wanted for his birthday was....LEGOs!!

Riley is one of those really great kids who gets totally excited about every present he opens. It is so much fun to watch him. When he opened this one he exclaimed, "Oh, AWESOME!!! Some new Sunday pants!"

The whole gang (minus the babies who were in bed). Back: Rachelle, Jayson, Grandma Wilkinson, Alicia (Jayson's sister), Mike (Alicia's husband), and Grandpa Wilkinson. Front: Kaiya, Riley, Trevor and Andrew

Riley blows out the candles on his birthday "cake" of choice----a Double Cream Lemon Pie from Marie Callendars--YUM!

Happy 9th Birthday Riley!

Princess Kaiya Turns 6!

Friday was Kaiya’s 6th birthday! We celebrated with several parties. We started by taking treats to Kaiya’s Kindergarten class. Most of the other kids bring cupcakes for their birthdays, but Kaiya decided she wanted to be a little bit different and bring ice cream sandwiches. Kaiya also wanted the babies to be there, so we all went over with the stroller.

Kaiya's class lined up along the wall outside to eat their ice cream sandwiches.

Kaiya with a few of her friends

Rustin, Ryder, Kyndall, Kassidy and Kaydence. The babies were fascinated with Kaiya's class. They hardly made a peep the whole time we were there.

As soon as everyone finished their treats, they all swarmed the babies. There were two red-heads in Kaiya's class and they were delighted to see that Rustin had red hair too.

Mrs. Hunt's Kindergarten class poses for a picture

After school we had a "friend" party for Kaiya. At our house, we only do friend parties every other year. This time we did a princess-themed party and it was so much fun! My friend Virginia took all the babies to her house for the afternoon so my mom and I could decorate and get ready for the party. She is superwoman! She took all the pack-n-plays to her house and tried to give the babies a nap, but they didn't sleep very well in the new environment. She played with them all afternoon and brought them back after the party was over. My other friend, Cassaundra, went over around 5:00 pm to help feed and take care of the babies too. These women are amazing!! I could have never pulled off this party without them!

The princesses arrived around 4:00 pm and we took a quick "before" picture before sending them upstairs for makeovers.

"Before": Emma, Kaiya, Molly, Mikayla and Ryley (Princess Vivian arrived fashionably late and didn't make it into the before picture)

At the first make-over station, the girls had their nails done by me.

After nails, the princesses had their hair and make-up done by some "seasoned" princesses---Kayla (above) and Holly (below).

Following the make-overs, headed downstairs for their "Glamour Shots"

Back: Emma, Vivian, Kaiya, Front: Molly, Mikayla, Ryley.

Princess Kaiya

Front to Back: Princess Ryley, Princess Kaiya, Princess Emma, Princess Molly, Princess Mikayla and Princess Vivian

Following the photo shoot, the girls played games while I quickly printed off some of the pictures to use as table decorations, then we had a Princess "Tea Party" (minus the tea--we had pink soda instead).

The Cake. Kaiya has been insisting for months that she wanted a tiered cake for her birthday. I have never made a tiered cake before and this one didn't turn out the way I pictured it in my mind, but in the end I think it still turned out pretty cute!

The table (still missing a few frames)

The place setting. We served flower-shaped peanut butter sandwiches, fruit kabobs and jello-cups. I was so excited when I found the crown frames on clearance for 50 cents a couple weeks ago. My mom and I painted them pink and put the girls names on them with sparkly letters and they looked great!

Time flies when you're having fun, and it was 6:00 pm before we knew it! The parents were arriving to pick up their daughters and we still hadn't done the cake! The girls insisted that we could not skip that part, so we sang Happy Birthday and Kaiya blew out the candles.

Following the "friend" party, we had our "family" party. The term "family" was interpreted a little more loosely---we invited Virginia and her family, Cassaundra and her family and our friends the Woods. At the princess party, we were careful to cut the cake in the back, so no one could even tell from the front that there were pieces taken out and it still looked great for the "family" party.

Kaiya with her presents

The whole "family"

All in all, I think Kaiya had a great day!

Princess Kaiya Turns 6!

Big Brother Riley Turns 8!

Riley and Kaiya with cousins Cora and Alec on his birthday.

This week Riley turned 8!! I can’t believe I have a child that old! I remember when I turned 8, and at the time, my mom seemed a lot older than how I feel now. Riley is an awesome kid. He is very sensitive and thoughtful of others. Every once in a while he sneaks in my room to make my bed or leave me a nice note. He loves to read, play LEGOs, and ride his bike. He just started piano lessons last week and he is on the swim team and loves it. He is very gentle and a great helper with the babies.

Riley and the new bike he got for his birthday.

Fun Facts about Riley:

Favorite Colors: Blue and Green
Favorite Food: Pizza
Least Favorite Food: Tomatoes
Favorite Treat: Ice Cream
Grade in School (2008-2009 school year): 3rd Grade
Favorite Subjects: Reading and Art
Least Favorite Subject: Math
Favorite Superhero: Spiderman
Favorite Thing To Do: Play with friends
Favorite Restaurants: Rudy’s BBQ and Taco Bell
What he wants to be when he grows up: Moviemaker

Favorite Riley Quotes:

Riley (at the start of every meal): “What do I have to eat to get dessert?”

Riley: “Mom, what does it mean to be famous?”
Mom: “It means a lot of people know who you are.”
Riley: “Oh, I get it, so we are famous, but not rich.”

The Scene: We walk into Jamba Juice where two older ladies are sitting at a table, drinking their smoothies. Riley suddenly starts sobbing.
Mom: “Riley, what’s wrong??!?”
Riley: “I just don’t want you to get wrinkles!” (sniff, sniff)

Riley (almost seven) in the Bluebonnets--the Texas State Flower

Riley (6 years old) playing T-ball

Riley (5 years old) on his first day of Kindergarten

Riley (4 years old)

Riley (3 years old) has always loved to dress up--in anything!

Riley--2 1/2 years old

Riley--1 year old

Riley--9 months old

Riley--5 months old

Riley saving the universe--4 months old

Riley (2 weeks old) on his blessing day.


Cast your vote for which baby looks the most like Riley in the poll to the right===>

Big Brother Riley Turns 8!